263: Qindao 259 263: Qindao 259 Because the distance was simply too far, nearly a thousand kiloters, it wasn’t possible to drive.
They boarded the plane at nine in the morning, by the ti they landed in this seaside city, it was already noon.
Qin Island had been one of Shenzhou’s important ports since the Han Dynasty, and it is even more so today.
Surrounded by sea on many sides, it is a picturesque city.
Although it isn’t as developed as East Sea, it is a famous tourist city known for its seafood.
On the first day of the new year, the weather was delightful.
The water was clear, the sky blue, the clouds cottony, and a gentle breeze was blowing.
Each breath they took was refreshing and invigorating.
“It really goes to show that a place nurtures its people.
If it were my hotown, it certainly couldn’t have produced a girl like you.”
Jiang Chen sighed.
Upon arriving in her hotown, Li Shuru seed much bolder.
She took Jiang Chen’s arm in hers without any concern for those around imdiately after getting off the plane, gesturing for a taxi while saying, “There are beautiful won everywhere.
You flatter people too much; it’s a bit hypocritical.”
Jiang Chen quickly responded, “Did I say I was flattering anyone?”
Li Shuru pinched him without any courtesy.
“The taxi’s here.”
Jiang Chen hurriedly said.
A taxi stopped by them.
Jiang Chen put the luggage in the trunk.
Since they needed to stay for at least two days, he had brought so spare clothes.
“iyuan Residential Area.”
“Alright.”
The taxi started moving.
Once in the car, Li Shuru continued holding Jiang Chen’s arm.
Back on Qin Island, she didn’t need to suppress her feelings anymore, nor did she have to maintain her goddess-like deanor.
Leaning against Jiang Chen’s shoulder, the sweetness that she could hardly contain was so apparent that even the taxi driver could see it.
“You guys are students, right?”
“Yes, we ca back for a look during the New Year’s holiday.”
Li Shuru was no longer cold toward the locals.
“Are you both from Qin Island?”
“He’s not.
He ca back with .”
“Tsk, young man, you’re in luck.
You’ve managed to run away with another pretty girl from our Qin Island.
You better treat her well, otherwise, all ten million of us from Qin Island won’t agree.”
“Did you hear that?”
Li Shuru tilted her head.
“Absolutely.”
Jiang Chen nodded humbly.
Every city has its own customs and people.
Perhaps because it’s a tourist city, the people of Qin Island are very hospitable or perhaps very outgoing.
From the airport to Li Shuru’s ho, which was over a forty-minute drive, the taxi driver chatted with them enthusiastically all the way.
“Stay well together, you two!”
Before leaving, the taxi driver shouted through the car window.
Standing at the roadside with his luggage, Jiang Chen watched the taxi drive away, “Why didn’t you just stay in Qin Island for college?”
Qin Island also has quite a few good universities.
“I grew up here, and no matter how nice a place is, there cos a day when you grow tired of it.
Is it so wrong to want to see other places?”
Li Shuru looked at him, “What’s the matter?
Did you not want to et ?”
Jiang Chen smiled wryly.
Indeed.
If Li Shuru had stayed in Qin Island for college, they would never have t.
Every choice in life signifies a different destiny.
“Even if you hadn’t gone to East Sea, I believe we still would have t at another crossroad because our eting isn’t a coincidence, it’s fate’s arrangent.”
Li Shuru’s eyes trembled, then she burst into laughter, her cheeks blooming like flowers.
“You do have a way with words.
Let’s get going.”
She took Jiang Chen’s hand and walked into the residential area.
iyuan Residential Area seed to be a comrcial residential complex with so years to it.
The buildings weren’t tall, probably only around a dozen floors, and there was even an artificial lake inside the complex.
This suggested that it must have been decent in the past, but it appeared to have been sowhat neglected in recent years, with the lake water turning muddy and many of the grassy areas going bald and untended.
However, the place was very lively.
The chatting residents added a sense of community to the complex, unlike so places where even neighbors in the sa building might not know each other.
They entered Building 8, Unit 1, and took the elevator to the twelfth floor.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
There was no doorbell.
At the entrance of 1201, Li Shuru knocked on the door.
Originally, she had told her mother that she would only return in the evening, precisely to give her mother a surprise.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
There was still no response from inside the house.
“Could Auntie be not at ho?”
“I’ll give her a call.”
Li Shuru took out her cellphone and dialed her mother’s number, only for the ringtone to sound within the stairwell.
The two instinctively turned around, to see Xue Mingqin carrying so groceries, appearing behind them.
Seemingly in disbelief, Xue Mingqin stood stock-still for a mont.
“Auntie.”
Jiang Chen warmly greeted her.
“Mom, soone’s calling you, don’t you have any manners.”
“Ah…
Jiang Chen, you’re here too…”
Xue Mingqin snapped out of her daze, but still seed to be caught off guard.
Jiang Chen couldn’t help but look at Li Shuru.
Li Shuru didn’t explain, but instead teased, “Mom, do you not welco him?
If you don’t, he might just leave.”
“You child!
How could Mom not welco him, co in quickly!”
Xue Mingqin hurriedly moved forward to open the door.
While changing into slippers, Jiang Chen whispered, “Did Aunt Xue really say I should co along?”
Li Shuru didn’t respond, pretending not to hear, “Mom, let help you with those.”
“No need, you child, weren’t you supposed to arrive in the evening?
And with Jiang Chen coming, why didn’t you say sothing beforehand?
I haven’t prepared much in the way of food.”
It was obviously clear.
Li Shuru apparently had “falsely conveyed the imperial edict.”
“It’s all right, Mom, he’s not any guest, whatever we eat, he’ll just eat, isn’t that right, Jiang Chen?”
Jiang Chen, of course, nodded with a smile.
“Jiang Chen, please take a seat.”
Unlike the usual mothers-in-law, Xue Mingqin didn’t put on any airs, hustling and bustling about looking for tea leaves and pouring tea for Jiang Chen.
“Auntie, please don’t bother, I can do it myself,” Jiang Chen hurriedly said.
“You sit.”
The death of her husband had indeed dealt a huge blow to this woman, who visibly aged quite a bit, with much more white hair than the last ti they t in East Sea.
“Mom, let do it, you go cook, we’re both hungry.”
Truly her own mother, Li Shuru was absolutely not shy in her own ho.
“All right then, Jiang Chen, you sit down first, I’ll go cook, and Shu Rui, keep Jiang Chen company, okay?”
Xue Mingqin went into the kitchen.
Jiang Chen looked around the house.
Two bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, probably around ninety square ters in size, with wallpaper on the walls and fairly nice decor, it was more than enough for a family of three.
Xue Mingqin kept the house very clean, and there were even so green plants on the balcony.
“We don’t have any good tea leaves at ho, sorry about that,” Li Shuru said as she handed over a cup of tea, and before she could sit down, her mother shouted from the kitchen, “Shu Rui, peel so fruit for Jiang Chen, it’s on the coffee table.”
“Got it!”
Li Shuru couldn’t help but feel both amused and resentful, complaining, “Who’s the real born and bred one here?”
“Feeling a sense of crisis now?”
Jiang Chen teased.
Li Shuru glared at him, alluring and charming, and picked up an apple from the fruit plate.
“Want one?”
Jiang Chen shook his head.
“We’re about to eat.”
“Then you sit, I’ll go help my mom.”
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